Steve Brown Apartments and Forward Management are two of the largest players and often buy and hold everything from large apartment complexes to single family homes as they strategically buy entire blocks to tear down and develop large complexes.

Go to local REI events and meet the players. 

I agree with your assessment but that doesn't mean qualified investors can't get better rates today due to the involvement of larger players.  

Those are your two big players.

Though it might not seem plausible, I think the "creative class" is a large player in the Portland jobs market.Buildings keep going up catering to "creative companies", and damn if they don't fill up all the offices.I myself have a desk in a rehabbed building in the bakery blocks, and it's chock full of lots of small companies no-one has ever heard of.  

We're a local private lender, so perhaps biased, but agree with his assessment that the local sharp shooters (local/regional funds) are better positioned to know the lending landscape than a national player.

Hit up Net Worth and New Western, they are the biggest players in Houston.

Building my knowledge for where newbies should find simple resources like state approved wholesale purchase and assignment contracts.Gain valuable contacts from networkingBecome familiar with local resources and players.

In my opinion a correctly setup whole life policy should be part of everyone's financial arsenal because of the security, flexibility, protection and freedom it provides.

Recasting is an interesting and under utilized tool in the arsenal of RE investors. however, the decision to do it really comes down to one's goals and the interest rate.